Yesterday I blogged about the pre-conference workshop I attended on "Anger dysregulation". Today was the first full day of the conference proper. Breakfast illustrated the kind of helpful, fun conversation that can emerge at this kind of event. I talked to Fiona McFarlene & Tara Murphy who were going on to run a skills class on "Exposure and response prevention: adapting skills you already have to the treatment of tics".

There are a series of meta-analyses showing that "behavioural activation" (BA) is a good treatment for depression and that it is as effective as best-established approaches like full cognitive behavioural therapy - see, for example, last year's paper by Trevor and colleagues "Behavioral activation treatments for depression in adults: a meta-analysis and review". BA involves encouraging increased engagement in enjoyable activities. Subjects may be asked to keep a record of their daily activities and associated feelings - for example, feelings of achievement and enjoyment. The downloadable charts and handouts further down this website's "Problem solving and behavioural activation"page illustrate this well-known approach.

what are implementation intentions?
"Goal intentions" involve aiming for some desired future outcome. They are of the form "I intend to attain goal X". Unfortunately we know only too well that making such intentions does not necessarily mean that we will reach our goals. As the old saying goes "There's many a slip between cup and lip". A major review of 422 relevant research studies found that goal intentions accounted for only an average 28% of the variance in achievement of successful outcome (Sheeran, 2002). Subsequent research suggests that even this figure of 28% is an overestimate (Webb and Sheeran, 2006). The conclusion is clear - forming a strong goal intention to achieve some desired outcome in no way guarantees success.

Here are a series of forms, questionnaires and handouts that I use regularly in my work. The problem solving diagram is a recurring theme - both at the start of therapy and as a sheet to return to when reviewing and considering additional therapeutic options. Other sheets are classic variants on the tools used by many cognitive behavioural therapists - with occasional alternatives and additions, that I've come up with over the years, thrown in as well.